Reinforced concrete structure



Oct. 10, 1961 s. LERNER REINFCRCED CONCRETE STRUCTURE.

2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed OCT.. 8, 1957 S amue/ l: rfv-nef Oct. 1o, 1961 s. LERNER 3,003,290

REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r, -zzi Ei s Il l l ,43 V44 ,445 JM 47 'frac ,/A 7# 75 INVENToR. Sam u@ erner A TTORNEYS Patented Oct. 1i), 1961 3,003,290 REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURE Samuel Lerner, 14 Cooke St., Pawtucket, RJ. Filed Oct. 8, 1957, Ser. No. 688,934 7 Claims. (Cl. 50-407) This invention relates to a structure or structural elements for buildings, bridges, or other framework.

Heretofore in the formation of buildings where concrete was -used in the construction, it was necessary to provide forms which constituted a large part of the labor and materials involved, both in the erection of forms be- -fore the concrete was poured and in the removal of the forms after the concrete has become set in place. Further, in the building of structures rolled steel sections were utilized. These required reprooling by wrapping lath material around the steel sections and then applying concrete or plaster in Order to protect the steel from heat. This was a laborious procedure and costly. Further, the use of steel sections required some apparatus for positioning the steel in place as it was beyond the weight which could be handled by manpower alone.

The present invention has for its object to simplify the erection of structures as above outlined thereby reducing the cost of materials used and also the labor involved.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure which may be more flexible as to the shape which it may take and thus free from the shape of rolled steel sections which may be available.

Another object of the invention is to reduce the use of forms which were required before concrete was poured and reduce the labor necessary in removing the forms after the cement was poured.

Another object of the invention is to reduce and, in some cases, eliminate the use of steel sections for the structural support.

Another object of the invention is to reduce the weight of the structure so that the dead weight provided by the structure itself will be reduced.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure which may be more speedily erected by reason of the simpler structure and less labor required.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure which will be reproof and withstand the building codes as now in force.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure which will have passages through it for the accommodation of electrical wires, telephone Wires, conduits for water and the like.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a structure which may be in part prefabricated and then positioned in the place it is desired.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sheet of lath materi-al which may be utilized in the formation of the structure here described;

FIG. 2 is an end View of the lath of FIG. 1 folded into one form which it may have;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the structure of FIG. 2 used as a girder and suitably supported in a building structure;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 after concrete has been applied to the lath material of FIG. 3

FIG. 5 is a section on line S-S of FIG. 4 showing the concrete material as applied;

FIG. 6 is -a View similar to FIG. 5 illustrating a modified form of structural element;

FIG. 7 -is a sectional View of `a still different modified form and illustrating a column formed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of girders with beams extending across the girders and panels formed in accordance with this invention laid upon the beams;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view on line 9-9 of FIG. 8 of the structure of the panel;

FIG. l() is a perspective view illustrating fragmentally the make-up of the lath Work in the panel of FIG. 9; and

FIG. l1 is an enlarged sectional view taken at right angles to the showing of FIG. 9 and substantially on line 11--11 of FIG. 8, showing the arrangement of the panel and the lbeam after concrete has been poured onto the panel.

In proceeding with this invention, I have formed the structural elements desired, such for instmce as beams, although this term also includes girders and panels, out of metal foraminated lath material in such a shape that when concrete is applied to the lath, it will be of a solid form in the upper part of the element above the neutral axis where compressive forces act but lwill oe largely hollow below the neutral axis so as to reduce the Weight of the element in that area where the concrete, if the element was solid, would be in tension as the concrete adds no strength in tension to the portion of the element below the neutral axis. I do, however, retain and supplement the element in the lower portion with steel rods to take the loads in tension below the neutral axis and thus retain good tensile strength in that portion of the element where it is desired, the over-all effect being to provide a much lighter element with the concrete where under compression remaining as before but lighter below the neutral axis Where the concrete would be in tensionl and be of little value.

Further, I may position the metal part of the element in place before concrete is -applied and while it is very light, and then pour the concrete on it and cover the element while in place, thus making lifting apparatus unnecessary and a girder, beam or panel which may be handled by two or four men. Further, this type of structure may, in some cases, be prefabricated to provide the desired size and then the Prefabricated unit positioned.

With reference to the drawings, the lath material is designated generally 15, consisting of a mesh work of rods or perforated sheet material so that it will be provided with a plurality of openings so that concrete, plaster, or the like may readily adhere thereto and will also be light in Weight. This lath material, as shown in FIG. l, is then `bent to provide a support 16 at or above the neutral axis of the structural element, which is about midway of its height, with sides 17 and 1S extending upwardly therefrom and then doubled upon themselves at their upper extremities to provide main sides 19 and 20 and turned inwardly to provide a bottom 21 with a joint at its mid-portion. Steel rods 22 and 23 are provided at one of the lower corners at the junction of the side 19 and bottom 21 and other steel rods 24 and 2S are provided at the junction of the lath side 20 and bottom 21 and xed in place by Welding or ties.

'Ihis structure may be utilized as a girder and positioned across supports 26 `and 27 as shown in FIG. 3, the girder now being designated generally 28. After the girder is in this position shown in FIG. 3, concrete may be applied so that it will solidly lill the U-form 16, 17, and 18 as at 29 and the concrete may be applied to the sides as at 30, 31 and to the bottom as at 32. While applying concrete either by pouring, spraying, or plastering, some of the concrete applied to the outer surface of -the structure 23 will pass through the lath and coat the bottom 16 of the upper U-section as at 33 and coat the inner sides of the larger U-section as at 34 and 35 and also will drop or pass through the bottom 21 of the larger U-section `and coat the upper surface of the bottom 21 as at 36. This coating will envelop they steel rods 22, 23, 2A: and 25 as shown in 5 and in fact will completely cover the insiderand outside of the entire metalgstructure, thus reproofing the same.V The beam after being coated isdesignated generally 37 as shown in FIG. 4.

In some cases wherelateral stability is desired, the sidey walls of the element may be ared outwardly as at 19,' and as shown in FIG. 6, providing a larger bottom 21' as thereshown. This will provide lateral stability for the beam. In some cases, the element may be further modified by the side walls being of a single thickness at their upper portions with no supporting bottom as 16, in which case a wooden strip 38 may be set into the upper portion Y of the walls 19', and 20 and nailed thereto as at 39 and additionally provide for nailing to the element as may be desired; after the structure is thus formed, concrete may be plastered about it as shown at 30', 31', 32'. These Y beams may also be prefabricated and covered with con- Y crete, stored and thenerected as required.

in the structure shown in FIG. 8, I have illustrated girders 40, 41 and 42 which may be of the structure vabove described and for illustration are ,on twenty-four foot centers and upon which there is set beams 43, 44, 45, 46, 47- on sixteen foot centers and upon these beams I have positioned panels 50 which extend substantially from one beam to the other and are sixteen feet long and four feet wide.

The beams -are shown in section `at.44 `and are of still a ditferent'shape than any element heretofore shown being substantially rectangular in cross section at the base with a pointed rib on the top. The base has a bottom 51, sidesA 52, 53 and a top or shoulders 54 from which there extends upwardly a smaller section of triangular form having sides 55 and 56. y

'I'he panels designated generally 50 comprise a bottom lath 61 upon which is positioned a lath bent into undulating form to provide a series of V-shaped portions having opposite diagonals 62 and 63. A lath of four foot width will provide two Vs with sides eleven inches and two inch rolled edges at either side, the Vs at their upper edges being rolled over as at 64 and 65 with one roll overlapping the roll of the next panel so that the width of these Vf. In,

sections may be continued to the desired dimension. the showing I have provided, the beams are on sixteen foot centers and the panels will bel sixteen feet long and four feet. Wide, assuming this is the weight it is desired to. be handled. As the Vs are on substantially eight inch centers, I wouldvuse three of these laths for a four foot section or six of these laths for an eight foot wide section. Rods 66 reinforce the upper folds of the lath sections in between each of the Vs at their upper edges. A concrete supporting lath 67 maybe dropped into the V formed by tion of the panel. The panel thus formed with its bottomv `and V-shaped structure is laid upon one of the beams such as 43 at one end and y44 at the other end while anV additional panel will extend from beam 44 to beam 4S, the juncture being shown on a large scale in FIG. l1.

Atits ends the support lath 67 will be tapered and bent `downwardly as at 67 (FIG. ll') so that concrete is poured or applied on the upper part of this panel, located on the beam. This concrete whichl have designatedA generally 70 in FIG. 8 and FIG. 11, and which will be applied to substantially the depth of 2 to 31/2 inches -above the lath 67, willv sift through this lath yto apply tothe lath portions 62, 63 and coat'the same as at 71,Y and also dropping -upon the bottom 61 as at 72. A coating willl be vappliedto the underside of the bottom later as may be desired and will: also supplement the coating 72-Which may have dropped from above. The concrete'70 will ll in about the triangular upward projection of the beam as at 73, substantially iilling this triangle as at 74 and coating the walls 52, 53 Iand 51, thus makingpa one-piece joint between the panels and the beam as illustrated in FIG. l1. The outer surfaces of the walls 511, 52, 53 will bel plastered with cement after wiresV are positioned in the panels to completely cover the beam.

Prior to the pouring of concrete as above described, shoring 75 may be provided between the beams 43 and 44 in aV position to give a slight upward camber to the panel so that when the shoring is removedY after the concrete is set, the weight of the panel will be sustained at substantially a level position at its upper surface.

It will be observed that the above formation provides fora hollow part of the panel of the beam running lengthwise thereof which mayserve for the purpose of running electrical wires, telephone wires, orvtubing for the conducting of water in the structural elements making it unnecessary to provide separate supportsy for Ythese conduits and at the same time protecting the same within the structure. Y

In some cases, columns maybe provided, such as shown in FIG. 7, where the V-shaped formations of FIGS. 8 and l0 may be utilized about concentric lathing 76, 77, these Vs being designated generally V78, concrete being applied as at 79 between the Vs in a manner to coat the inner surfaces thereof aswell as there being provided a protecting coating 80 -around the outside circular lath 76 as illustrated.

By using one or more rows of shoring (depending on the span of the panels) the concreteabove the neutral axis carries a large portion of its own weight as well as the applied live load. The steel structural panels in use today employ 4 to 6 times more weight in steel and in addition must have metal lath attached to the under surface and plastered for ire protection. Also the amount of concrete, which serves only as a filler, is also greater.

I claim:

1. A structural beam of extended length comprising a U-shaped foraminous'metal lath having a bottom wall and side walls extending upwardly therefrom, a plurality of rods secured to the U-shaped lath in the area in which the bottom wall joins the upstanding side walls and which extend longitudinally along the length of said beam to support the beam in tension, a solid mass of material connected to and extending between said side walls and from substantially the upper extremities thereof downwardly to a level less than one halfV of the height of said side walls, the lower surface of the solid mass and the lower portion of the U-shaped lath defining a substantially unobstructed hollow void.

2. A structural beam as in claim l wherein said lath is of one sheet structure with a single piece bottom wall and integral side walls bent up therefrom.

3. A structural beam as in claim l wherein said metal lath has a concrete coating on its outer surface.

4. A structural beam as in claim l wherein there is a tie between the side walls andthe solid mass of material is concrete.

5. A structural beam as in claim l wherein there is a bridging wall between the side walls and the solid mass of material is concrete supported from below by said bridging wall. Y

6. A structural beam as in claim 1 wherein there is a bridging Wall between the side Walls and the solid mass of material is concrete supported from below by said bridging wall and said metal lath has a coating ofrconcrete on its outer surface. Y

7. A structuralV beam asin claim 1 wherein said solid mass of material is wood andis secured to the upper portions of the side walls of `the lath.' Y

(References on following page) References Cited in the le of this patent 1,501,850 UNITED STATES PATENTS ggf 543,582 Meyenberg July 30, 1895 2116886 Milliken Aug- 27, 5 774,512 Forrester Nov. 8, 1904 910,947 Needs Ian. 26, 1909 1,109,785 Reier Sept. 8, 1914 1,158,861 sandm Nov. z, 1915 2951920 6 Karstens et al July 15, 1924 Easterday May 29, 1928 Hadden Dec. 11, 1928 Goetz May 10, 1938 ONeal Mar. 11, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland 1954 

